All of my brugs. get leaves and then they drop them again.
WHY WHY WHY
They keep dropping their leaves
Could you explain the circumstances, what you did etc.?
Monika,
I didn't do anything different that I can think of. The only one that hasn't lost its leaves is the peaches and cream. They grow new ones but then they just drop off. It drives me crazy trying to figure it out.
Honibee, it is not easy, to make a diagnosis without seeing the plants. Do you have already big plants? It could be that: you used too much of a strong fertilizer with false components or; the plants are small and the pots are to big for them and to moist (wet). This makes ' cold feet ' and 'Staunässe' (stowing moisture) which is the mostly cause of root rot. When Brugmansias start dropping their leaves without signs of pests, there is something wrong with the roots. Maybe this will help you a little bit.
are they still inside?
yes, it is to cold to be out yet.
Monika, are you at a high elevation? just curious, seems like my brugs are very different from yours. to me a large pot is kinda like planting one in the ground and leaving like they grow in the wild. i root mine in big pots and they definitely grow faster that way, have done this experiment several times, in 2 months the ones in larger pots will be half again as big as the ones in smaller pots, starting from unrooted cuttings. for 8 months a year i'd have a very humid and hot most of the year. just curious, there has to be a reason. in our conditions also, we run the sprinklers the day when we expect a hard frost, and every so often in between if it doesn't rain. with our borderline cold, between 15-30, the ground never freezes anyway. plants in this region are more likely to die of stress than the cold, and dried out roots stress easier. and i have never killed a brug once it got past 18 inches tall without shovel pruning it, and then they don't want to die, will sprout from the roots!
Your climate in Florida is that of southern Spain, Italy.
Brugmansias grow rhere wild. Great Britain has in many parts a milder climate as we in Central Europe. The elevation, I live is 600m, mountain regions. But even in the very mild Rhein - Maingebiet, or southern parts of Germany, winters are severe. Mme Blin brings her brugs out exact on 20. April and starting them back into winterquarter on 15. Okt. The first date is much too early and the latter much too late for me. But even Mme Blin must be careful in potting young cuttings into large containers,
as May and June can be very cool, even in Strasbourg.
My post so where is my answer.
Honibee, hard to answer. if your night temps aren't lower than 38 i would go ahead and start adjusting them to outside, since they are dropping leaves anyway, under some trees or on a porch to start.
do they turn yellow before they drop?
No, they are green.
Have you checked them closely for spider mites/aphids?
Honibee, excuse my excursion about european climate, but it had to do with your problems. I thought, you had your plants already outside.
Brugie could be right with spider mites, you should check your plants immediatly. You should find small yellow to reddish colored mites and if there are many, fine webs around the leaves. The leaf itself looks silvery on top.
Do you want me to place pictures about spider mites?
One of my brugs is infested with spider mites - I just discovered....
what is the best remedy?
I use Vertimec in the GH or Imidacloprid. The latter helps to reduce the mites, but does not kill them all. Maybe Brugie can help, because I dont know any US insectizide.
HoniBee, mine also lost leaves for no apparent reason, but started growing better after going outside. I did repot them at that time into 1 gallon pots, and they will soon be going into 3 gallon pots, which are as large as I can handle. They were easy for me to harden off to being outside, as I first put on enclosed but unheated porch, then covered patio, then finally into the full sun. Good luck! John